Emma Pollock

Who? Formerly one fourth of baroque pop critical darlings the Delgados, singer/songwriter Emma Pollock is the first member of the perennial cult faves to test the waters as a solo artist. Since the Scots’ breakup in 2005, fans have only heard a smattering of material from Pollock, though a bow at this year’s South By Southwest festival gave a taste of what might be in store. After more than a year in the can at dreampop mecca 4AD Records, her debut album Watch the Fireworks hit American shores this month.

What’s the Deal?Fireworks presents a less ornate though similarly pretty take on Pollock’s work in her former band, with flutes and piano embellishing a standard guitar/bass/drums lineup. While the 4AD pedigree and Pollock’s gentle vocals immediately call to mind the hovering beauty of Cocteau Twins, the approach here is more grounded in classic poet/singers — lots of symbol-heavy lyrics with clocks, dreams and scars on the inside — and mid-’90s girl rockers like Juliana Hatfield, Tanya Donnelly and Mary Lou Lord. Shy as she may seem on stage with her eyes seemingly locked to the floor, Pollock will take to the road next month opening up for Canadian power-popsters the New Pornographers.

Fun fact: Emma Pollock is a car fanatic. “I absolutely adore classic cars, particularly ones from the ’60s and ’70s like the BMW 2002tii, or the Facel Vega, a French car,” Pollack explains to SPIN.com. “I used to own a Rover P6, a British ’70s car, and went through a mechanics course to learn how to maintain it myself. I’d actually really love to learn how to restore an old classic as I don’t think car designs these days are very interesting at all. Ideally I’d love to tour the U.S. in an original Mustang towing an Airstream trailer.

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